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AT&T PEBBLE BEACH NATIONAL PRO-AM

February 12, 2011

Jimmy Walker

PEBBLE BEACH, CALIFORNIA

DOUG MILNE: Thank you for joining us after a successful third round, bogey-free 62 at Monterey. Just a couple comments on the highlights of the round and we'll open up and take a few questions.
JIMMY WALKER: A couple of highlights; I got off to a good start, I better decide 2, I hit a good shot and made about a 10-footer or so and just made a couple pars and got a par 5 birdie on -- I can't remember what hole that is, so many golf courses this week.
On 6, went for the green in two and went left it short and right and was in some cabbage and hit a wicked shot to the back of the green, a giant slope and came back off the hill and made about a 12-footer there. So that was a nice birdie. I didn't think I was going to get one after the second shot.
No. 8, hit a hybrid off the tee and a nice little cut seven in there to about six feet and made that.
And then, 10 the par 5, hit one right in front the green in two, tricky little pin and hit a really good pitch to five feet and made that one.
11, rolled in a 25-footer which was nice.
The par 3 was just off the green and made a good putt. It was like another 25-footer. It was just, kind of tracked right in there.
17, hit a good 9-iron in there to about 15 feet and got that one to go. Just drove it real solid today and lots of looks.
DOUG MILNE: Obviously in great position as we're heading into tomorrow's final round here at Pebble Beach. Anything that you're still kind of working on tweaking a little bit, or are you happy overall with the whole game?
JIMMY WALKER: Everything feels pretty good. My first nine at Spyglass the other day I was 4-over through seven holes and to be here right now, after the first four holes I was like, are you kidding me? But I've been hitting it well. Just been hitting it solid and keeping it right in there front of me.

Q. With so many guys having a shot at their first win; will you do anything different as you head into tomorrow?
THE MODERATOR: I was talking to my coach and he says, don't do anything different tonight than if you were 50th or missing the cut. You're going to go out and have dinner and enjoy yourself. We have a baby now, so our nights are quieter than they used to be.
I've won on the Nationwide Tour, and you can draw on that. I think it will be fun. A lot of guys, there's guys right up at the top that haven't won and somebody is going to do it. It's a tough golf course tomorrow. The greens are going to be really firm and they are just going to get firmer and firmer I think. They were firm yesterday when I played.
So I'm not going to do anything special, spectacular. Just go play good, solid golf. I don't think it's going to -- just depends on what everybody else does coming into today. I know I'm the first guy in but just a solid round tomorrow and just watch what happens.

Q. Spyglass earlier -- inaudible -- what is that?
JIMMY WALKER: If it's a boxing match, I always lose. It's not good. I was happy to get out of there even par, shooting 4-over on the front and 4-over on the back, I feel like I got one back on it a little bit and just carry that back nine into the last two days and keep it going into tomorrow.

Q. Was there a point in your round where you started to think, starting to make a move here and wonder what the leaders are doing?
JIMMY WALKER: If you're at Pebble, there are score boards everywhere you can see. I knew I was playing well and I knew Steve was obviously playing well, too, and he was playing the same golf course I was. There wasn't any wind to speak of out there and you could fire at every flag and the greens are pretty receptive.
So I watched it a little bit, and you know it's fun to watch -- I think it's fun to watch and watch what's going on and see your name up there. That's why you're out here -- why you're playing.

Q. A lot of people don't it like the format; do you mind playing with the amateurs and do you mind changing courses, going to three courses over a three-day span, or do you just ignore that and just play golf?
JIMMY WALKER: When I go home now, we have the baby now and I'm not going to say I don't practice as much as I used to, but I still practice and enjoy going home and playing with my friends and I feel that's the kind of mentality that I take in this week. This is my third year to play with Ron Peyton. He's from San Francisco and he's a great guy, and his family is always out watching, his daughter caddies for him. It's a fun day. Not a lot of great golf or anything but just a good walk and the weather has been spectacular this week. There's not a better place to hang out, I think.

Q. Different when you're a dad; do you think about it on the course? Do you think about the kid when you're lining up?
JIMMY WALKER: No. I'm pretty good at shutting stuff out. I can tell you this: When you get done and see him and he's smiling at you, it just makes you forget about everything else, good -- play good, play bad, doesn't really matter. He's happy to see you and wife's happy to see you, the dog; we have everybody out here. It's great. I love being a dad and he's been a great baby and could not ask for much more I don't think.

Q. Is there anything that's clicked this year, as opposed to other years? You've already a fourth place and now you're in contention.
JIMMY WALKER: I think you just get more and more comfortable every year. I've worked on a lot of stuff in the off-season. I felt like I was playing pretty well at the end of the last year, and I had a torn meniscus I had to get fixed, right after my play at Greenbrier; I did it at Greenbrier. I hurt my knee Friday.
For the rest of the Playoffs and PGA, I didn't quite have it. I could not get through onto my left side, so we decided to shut the year down and get it fixed. And I felt like I was onto a lot of really good stuff and continued to work on the things we needed to work on in the off-season. Some of it was just strategy on playing rounds, and it's nice to see what we have been doing and working on is starting to pay off which is nice.

Q. How did you tear the meniscus?
JIMMY WALKER: I wish I could tell you. I was on the third green at Greenbrier Friday and my third hole of the day, I was playing good, and I was bent down to look at a putt and I stand up and I take a step and can feel like a little -- I would liken it to a guitar spring plucking, the inside part of my knee. It didn't hurt, but I was like, that doesn't feel normal. I kept taking some steps and it would keep doing it.
And then I played my way around and it didn't hurt, and then after I teed up on 17, I was walking off the tee and I felt like a pop and it really hurt and my knee buckled and I felt like, that's not good. I don't know what happened but that's not good. My knee swelled up and it really hurt to walk that week, but limped around and it didn't hurt to swing at all. And I finished the tournament and I played really well, but I looked terrible doing it. We got on some medication and got the swelling out, but as soon as the swelling went away, the piece was still in place and I could feel that thing flopping around in there and it got to where it would hurt and make me flinch. It wasn't good. So we needed to get it fixed. I had it scoped.

Q. How long did it take you to rehab, to get that back playing and feeling normal?
JIMMY WALKER: You know, the doctor told me, he said, you probably lost 30 to 40 percent of the strength in your knee and I just don't know if -- I couldn't believe that because I was not off the knee. I kept going. Didn't sideline me at all. I played right up until I had surgery and was bending down and it really hurt but you just grinned and beared it.
I had surgery. I walked out, only took like 15 minutes or something and I was immediately on the ice. I literally could have hit balls four days later, and I didn't do anything any different at home. I was walking around and doing everything that I would have done if I would have just been at home. But it was nice to be home. It was a great excuse to be home and hang out with everybody.
I continued to do bike stuff, and I'm not going to say the doctor was wrong; he did a great job. It's a testament to how give felt I think.
Feels totally normal now. Right before Hawaii, the knee did not feel normal. It didn't hurt. I could just tell that something was not quite right in there, like I could feel that piece that they cut out but now it feels -- it was like a switch was triggered and it just feels totally normal again, which is nice.
I had the surgery right after Deutsche Bank last year.
DOUG MILNE: Jimmy, congratulations on a great round. Good luck and we'll see you back in here tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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